2 Corinthians 1:11

ye also helping together by prayer for us that for the gift bestowed upon us by the means of many persons thanks may be given by many on our behalf.

Paul here recounts a bit of personal history, concerning which he does not want the Corinthian Christians to remain in ignorance; he frankly shares his troubles with them, assured in advance of their prayerful sympathy. He had withstood the many adversaries in Ephesus, 1 Corinthians 16:9, he had escaped the enmity of the Jews, Acts 19:9. But the storm broke in the insurrection raised against him by Demetrius and his fellow-craftsmen, Acts 19:23. It was an affliction without parallel in his history: Beyond measure, beyond power we were weighed down, oppressed, distressed. The persecution was an exceedingly great load of affliction, and it went beyond all power of human endurance, it caused the great hero in faith to despair even of life, he saw no way by which his life could be saved.

He now repeats the same idea in positive form: Not only saw we no method by which our lives could be saved, but we ourselves had the sentence of death in ourselves; Paul had the conviction that the time had come when he must die, and an inglorious death at that: there seemed to be no way of escape. The language is so unusual in the case of Paul that many commentators have insisted that a most extraordinary peril must have befallen him. But his case was merely the normal experience of the average Christian, in whose life periods of heroic faith and confidence alternate with times of deepest distress, as we see in the Psalms. "For Paul had also experienced manifold perils and troubles, had also been saved from them in various ways; sometimes he shows himself to have a great and mighty courage that he fears nothing. There his heart is full of joy and he would have all to rejoice and be comforted with him. But on the other hand, he says 2 Corinthians 1:8: We were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life; also: We had the sentence of death in ourselves. But that was done, he says, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead. What is that, dear Paul? Why art thou not happy and full of comfort? Why dost thou not cheer the others? Shall Paul, that great apostle, be humbled to that extent that he would rather die than live? He that was just full of the Holy Spirit now appears to be entirely without spirit."

The object of God in permitting such peril and distress to befall the apostle is clearly stated: That we should not place our trust in ourselves, but in God, who raises the dead. The gravity of Paul's situation in the peril at Ephesus was so great as to impress upon him the utter uselessness of putting his trust anywhere but in God, who alone has power over life and death. Since He has the power to raise from the dead, to bring the dead back to life, much sooner is He able to close the gates of death before the dying. To Him, therefore, Paul also gives all honor in this case: Who delivered us out of so great a death, and does deliver, toward whom we have set our hope that he will still deliver. The picture drawn by Paul is that of a powerful tearing away from a danger to which he had been exposed, an emergence from its teeth or jaws through the almighty power of the Lord. This confidence he has, in this direction his trusting hope is directed. At the same time he trusts in the intercessions of the Corinthian brethren: While you also help together on our behalf by your supplication. Their urgent pleading would prove a great help for him in his position at all times; he would receive strength for his work. In the midst of afflictions the communion of prayer prospers, and for that reason the very sufferings of Paul were a cause of benefit to the brethren: That from many persons, literally, faces (upturned to God in a prayer of thanksgiving), for the gift bestowed upon us, thanks may be given through many on our behalf. The gift of grace, namely, the deliverance of the apostle, the preservation of his life, caused the sincere thanksgiving of the many people that had united in supplication for his life, this result agreeing exactly with the object of the Lord, for by His hearing of prayer God intends to provoke the grateful praises of the believers.